Geneva junior Derek Wagner a rising star in men's figure skating

Derek Wagner earned the title of the "comeback kid" at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last month. But that's what happens when you finish last in the short program of the novice men's division and shine in the long program.

The Geneva High School junior continues to move up the ladder of the nation's elite novice figure skaters, placing sixth of 12 overall in the event at St. Paul, Minn.

"In the short program, I did too many of one jump," Wagner said. "I messed up my first double-toe jump and didn't have a combination."

By doing that jump later, judges essentially canceled them out and Wagner received no points for that effort.

"I like the long program better because there are more elements and more places to get points," Wagner added.

Wagner plans to stick with his weekly routine of training four times a week in Buffalo Grove and skating locally on his rest days, as well as to get caught up with homework. Ultimately, he wants to make his way through junior and senior levels and be a part of Team USA, which would allow him to compete internationally.

The young skater has been perfecting his skills since he was 4½ years old, skating first at Fox Valley Ice Arena and then at the All Seasons Ice Rink in Naperville. That rink has some notoriety in this sport, having been a training site for Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek of Naperville.

"I have to say it was an amazing experience," said Derek's mother, Sandy Wagner. "We stayed and watched all of the seniors skate as well, such Gracie Gold, Aaron Max, Ashley Wagner and others."

And as if that weren't impressive enough, Sandy also took note of the classy way in which her son and other skaters were treated at the U.S. championships.

"They had their own special area for food," she said. "And they had people pushing the elevator buttons for them. It was a nice touch."

She finds good

Notes in this column are generally about the positive side of life, but it's always good to hear it from someone else, too. It's not always easy to find good things in a world in which social media, international troubles and our dysfunctional political process tell us the sky is falling.

But in her recent newsletter, Lazarus House executive director Liz Eakins said her career at the shelter has provided "the best vantage point in our community for witnessing how good people are."

She said the "negative chatter" all around us isn't true. The sky actually is not falling and many good people show the Lazarus House operators every day through volunteer work that they will not forget about the needs of their neighbors.

This was simply great to read and reinforced my belief that St. Charles was wise, generous and loving in embracing the concept of a shelter to help people down on their luck, in transition or with few other options in their lives.

Not for kids

The movie was "Deadpool," and it proved to be an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours on one of my rare free afternoons. It was violent, for sure, but a bit of a spoof as well, so it had plenty of funny moments.

But a couple of young kids were in the Randall 15 theater with their parents, and I have to say this: There is no way a 10-year-old kid should see this movie. It was way too rough and it's not likely they understood all of the jokes.

When I was 10, seeing "The Birds" was about as wild as it got, but I was far more likely to see a goofy Jerry Lewis movie or "In Search of the Castaways" or maybe "Hercules Unchained."

We can't turn back time, but we can be smarter about what kids are watching.

Now that hurt

I'm pretty proud of my work track record when it comes to staying healthy. In a work career of 40-plus years, I have used maybe five sick days.

But when something goes wrong, I do pick "big-ticket" items, such as the horror of passing a kidney stone about four years ago. Let's just say we hope that never happens again.

My latest episode wasn't quite as crazy, but it hurts to even write these two words: "Inflamed colon."

Yes, by some mystery of life none of us can explain, my interior plumbing decided it didn't want to work. And it wasn't from all of the food I write about. Or at least, I hope not.

As an added attraction, my urinary tract decided it would get an infection at the same time. Almost like, hey just for some laughs, let's try this, too.

The nice folks at Delnor Hospital couldn't explain the timing of this unusual disruption, maybe deciding to be nice and not just blurting out the unfortunate truth: "You're old."

Things could have been worse. This happened to me on a Wednesday night. As I told Daily Herald prep sports editor John Radtke, who had assigned a basketball game for me to cover on that upcoming Friday night, it could have hit me "with three minutes left in a close ballgame."

That would have made for an interesting item in this column.

dheun@sbcglobal.net